Metal masters Trivium are pleased to confirm a massive 16-date UK headline tour in March 2010, in support of current album Shogun. Special guests for the Into The Mouth Of Hell We Tour shows are currently being confirmed.

Singer/guitarist Matthew Heafy has this to say: “United Kingdom! As we said at Download, the UK was the first place in the world to truly embrace Trivium and make us feel like we had a home away from home on stage. The first several UK headline tours we did back in 2005 and 2006 were destructive, lethal and life-changing experiences we shared together: long sets… long tours… no frills, just our friends, our music and a good metal time. It’s been a very long time since we’ve done a full blown, multi-date headlining UK tour… and man have we missed it. We mentioned at Download that it would be a while till we would return… and 2010 is just about that time. We’re coming back with a vengeance and we’re bringing some friends and we’re playing some of our favourite venues. We hope to see you there!”

* The John Butler Trio makes a welcome return with their new single ‘One Way Road’. This is the first radio song from their new studio album called ‘April Uprising’.

* With over a million copies of two of their previous albums, ‘Sunrise Over Sea’ & ‘Grand National’ sold around the world, and sell out tours in USA/ Canada/ Europe & Japan, JBT continue to prove they are one of Australia’s greatest musical exports.

* The new album ‘April Uprising’ was recorded in John Butler‘s Studio, ‘The Compound’, in Fremantle WA. John revisited the same partnership of the highly successful ‘Sunrise Over Sea’ album with Robin Mai on engineer & mixing duties and Nicky Bomba returning on drums. The album is produced by the JBT which includes new bassist Byron Luiters.

Maryland’s favourite sons Clutch have continued to foster a strong relationship with their Australian fans, with three releases hitting stores in 2009, following the launch of their own record label Weather Maker, locally. Full Fathom Five, a live DVD & CD pack featuring the full Metro Theatre set filmed in Sydney on their last Australian tour, a studio LP from the bands instrumental side project, The Bakerton Group, and most recently Clutch’s 9th studio album Strange Cousins From The West. It’s been a big year for the band in stores here in Oz.

Escape The Fate is running straight for rock stardom, exuding a spirit of chaotic mischief, reminiscent of the riotous Motley Crue, which they capture brilliantly in their electrifying live shows. Hailing from the world’s most outlandish city, Las Vegas, Escape The Fate have been conquering crowds and packing venues throughout the world, enslaving a legion of faithful fans at each stop with their brand of boisterously addictive rock.

It seems that Australians just can’t get enough of The Fray. The band’s last tour in March sold out in every city well in advance of the shows, and the performances themselves gripped crowds across the nation.

Some 15 years ago, Steve Vai dubbed the then 19 year old Devin Townsend “The Boy Genius”. Vai was being most sincere, rather than sarcastic.

Since then Townsend has amazed, beguiled and occasionally baffled all comers in numerous incarnations spanning the extreme noise metal of Strapping Young Lad to the intricate melodies of Ocean Machine; Devin has had his hand in almost every genre of music, from industrial metal to progressive rock to ambient sounds. All of these projects had one thing in common: GENIUS.

From the perfection of the wall of noise that was ‘Strapping Young Lad’ to the brilliance of ‘The Devin Townsend Band’, Hevy Devy has embarked on his most ambitious project yet;

Summer has begun, the New Year is just around the corner, and so is the BIG DAY OUT! We’re thrilled to let you in on the final artists who will be touring with the BIG DAY OUT in 2010 plus the local acts taking to the stage in each city.

Norway’s Datarock have returned with the follow up to the geek-chic party album of 2005, Datarock Datarock and will be heading down under to serve it up live to Australian audiences.

Their debut mixed Happy Mondays punk-funk with warped Devo humour, and was well received locally with ‘Computer Camp Love’ landing #12 on Triple J’s Hottest 100. The new album, Red, has lost none of the duo’s aptitude for so-classic-you-must-haveheard-it-before hooks, but this follow-up is an altogether more concept-driven beast.

Australia, strap yourself in, ‘cause dope and SOiL are joining forces to make one huge, hell of a show and throwing it our way! These two hard-hitting bands are renowned for their wild and industrial driven live shows, which will be sure to blow audiences when they both tour Australia’s east coast for the first time.

dope, with their politically charged, sonic arsenal of sounds mixed with a grooving, melodic style appeals to metal fans across the board. Their live set has been described by reviewers as crazy, primal, tight and pumped full of raw energy, and they get their audience going wild, so you know you’re in for one hell of a show. Not only do these boys play kick-ass music, their sex-drugs-and-rock-n-roll attitude and swagger will leave you craving more of them.

One of Liverpool’s most mysterious and talented exports, Echo & The Bunnymen will return to Australian shores in early 2010. Following the release of their tenth studio album THE FOUNTAIN, original members Ian McCulloch (aka Mac) and Will Sergeant will bring their enigmatic live show to the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in Australia along with sideshows in both Sydney and Melbourne.
The tour begins in Sydney with a show at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday 27th January before heading to Brisbane for their headlining appearance at the St Jerome’s Laneway Festival on Friday 29th January.

The band will then head south to Melbourne for their Laneway appearance on Saturday 30th January, followed by Sydney Laneway on Sunday 31st January. Heading back to Melbourne on Thursday 4th February, Echo & The Bunnymen will then take on the Palais Theatre before heading west for Adelaide’s Laneway on Friday 5th February. The tour then concludes in Perth at their final Laneway performance on Saturday 6th February.

The Bunnymen formed when Ian McCulloch met guitarist Will Sergeant in the summer of 1978 in Liverpool when the pair began recording demos with a drum machine that the duo called “Echo.” Thirty years on with a career steeped in cult success as avant-garde icons of the 1980s, Echo & The Bunnymen have amassed bountiful treasures during their many travels.

Last year, Echo & The Bunnymen took their ‘Ocean Rain’ show on the road – a tribute and retrospective of their celebrated 1984 release. The much lauded return to the stage saw sold out shows at London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the Liverpool Echo Arena – all of which were also met with huge critical acclaim. Combining post-punk angst with the sort of lavish arrangements made famous by the Liverpool lads, a band rejuvenated, Echo & The Bunnymen also received enraptured recognition from critics and fans alike for their festival appearances at the Camden Crawl and Glastonbury.

Becoming cult sensations in the early 1980s, with classic albums including ‘Crocodiles’ (1980), ‘Heaven Up Here’ (1981) and enduring masterpiece ‘Ocean Rain’ (1984), Echo & the Bunnymen forged a distinct sound amongst their post-punk contemporaries (Joy Division, The Cure) grounded in swirling synths, gloomy pop and inspired psychedelia. Echo & The Bunnymen have until now had a whopping nine studio albums under their belt, with 2009’s ‘The Fountain’ being their tenth!
Ahead of their highly anticipated Australian tour in 2010, post-punk icons Echo & the Bunnymen present their brand new album, ‘The Fountain’ – this 5th December on My World Records through Inertia. A massive return to form for the U.K legends, ‘The Fountain’ is a superbly feisty album of pulsating, uplifting rock anthems.

The album boasts a widescreen, crystalline sound, which provides a big, solid undertow beneath Mac’s lyrics. “I’m just a better writer and better singer these days,” he says, “My voice has got more… honest, which fits these songs. This album is about something, rather than just sounding like it’s about something. It’s about having lived life, but still feeling like a kid. I’m a not traditional songwriter. What I do at my best is poetry.”
Echo & The Bunnymen are ready to bring Australian audiences their exciting new material, which Mac is already proudly calling “the best thing we’ve done since Ocean Rain…”
Get ready for the invocation of their big sound, goth-romantic poetry and strummed steel strings as they reclaim their legacy and reposition themselves on the rock continuum. This is one show not to be missed.

New Zealand’s favourite musical brothers return to Australia in 2010 for an East Coast tour. Renowned for their mind blowing live shows, thanks to their powerhouse rhythm section and multiple vocalists, Kora have built a solid local fan-base in Australia over the past few years. Long sets, brimming with their unique brand of dub based reggae, infused with electro beats and thumping bass lines, sounds that get everyone moving and venues pumping.Continue reading News: Kora announce Australian Tour – February 2010→

International comedy phenomenon Russell Peters has just announced his eagerly-awaited return to Australia and New Zealand. Peters is set to perform a cross country, 5 city tour, performing in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland, New Zealand in March 2010. He returns after two years by popular demand, tickets for the tour will go on sale Tuesday, December 1st, 2009.

Mistletone is proud to present for the first time in Australia, the slow and hazy psychedelic jams of New Mexico’s Brightblack Morning Light. Their dreamy, blissed out desert tones will be the perfect accompaniment to a hot summer.

The band was founded by the gentle naturalist ND Shineywater, hailing from Alabama, birthplace of icons such as Sun Ra & Diana Ross. Shineywater since has moved to live a minimal life off the coal/nuclear grid in New Mexico, by using only four solar panels in his small adobe dwelling.

The Zoo is filled with fresh faced lasses in floral dresses and boys with floppy hair and dance pants. As soon as the six members of Brisbane’s Ball Park Music hit the stage to room is on its feet and inching closer to the stage. It’s like were being sucked forward by the gloriously poppy sounds and irresistibly jangly guitars. And the trombone. How can anyone resist a trombone? This collective of shiny, happy young’uns have spent much of the year gigging around the city and attracting a little pack of supporters. They released an 8 track debut “Rolling on the floor, Laughing ourselves to sleep” early this year and some of the tracks have come to the attention of triple j heavyweights.Continue reading Live Review | Hungry Kids of Hungary @ The Zoo, Brisbane with Deep Sea Arcade and Ball Park Music – 14 November 2009→